After a few hours, Angel and I were finally able to get Jessie calmed down and the poor thing had been crying so much that she put herself to sleep. Angel asked one of the nurses for a blanket and a few minutes later she comes back with a blanket in hand. Angel unfolded the blanket and laid it across Jessie. The freshly dried blanket was warm and cozy enough for her to nuzzle into it. Shortly after, the doctor steps out into the waiting room.

He clears his throat, "eh mm! Huskerton family?" Angel and I walked over to the doctor. "How's he doing, Doc," I asked nervously. The doctor glanced down at his clipboard before looked up at us, "he's had twelve stitches throughout his body.

He's lucky to be alive as only an angelic weapon can cause this much damage. You have a very strong kid on you." I nodded my head towards him, "so I'm assuming he's in recovery now?" The doctor nods his head, "you guys can go see him however, he's really hopped up on painkillers right now." I nodded my head, "thanks, doctor."

He nodded his head back to me and walked away. I turned back around to face Angel and take his hands in mine, "babe, can you keep an eye on Jessie while I'm back there with my son? Afterwards, I'll come and get you and then you can visit with him." Angel wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me up into a kiss, "go ahead, Caro. We'll be fine out here.

I grabbed his lower set of hands and kissed the back of them before looking up at him and gazing into his eyes feeling grateful to have such a loving and supportive partner. Angel turned and walked back to the waiting room where Jessie was sleeping. I turned a corner and walked over towards the room number that the doctor had given me. That room number was 208 which ironically, had been Angel's room number when he had been in the hospital last year. I walked into his room and he was in terrible shape.

He was covered in bruises and stitches. I closed the door behind me and sat down in a chair across the room from his bed. I flattened my ears because from the moment I walked into his room he didn't even acknowledge me. He just continued staring with his head turned towards the window. I was all too familiar with the, 'silent treatment' as his mother used to do that a lot when we got into fights.

I let out a sigh and closed my eyes before I spoke. "Look, I know you're still mad at me and you have every right to be. So I don't expect you to talk to me or to even look at me for that matter. All I ask is that you listen to what I have to say. Then if you want, I'll leave."

He turns his head to me and I could see the sorrow and the pain in his eyes and it completely broke my heart. He then slowly turned his head back towards the window and went back to staring. I took in a deep breath in to prevent myself from losing my composure. I forced back my tears and cleared my throat, "So I just want to say right now, that I NEVER, EVER wanted to give you and your sister up. Even though it's going to be hard to believe, I loved you and your sister more than anything.

And I'm not trying to make excuses to justify my actions because, there's nothing that I could ever say or do that will change the fact that I've hurt you. Nor will it take back everything I did. I guess all I'm hoping is that you at least can see things from my eyes." He turns his head back towards me. He looked very tired and worn out considering all that he had been through.

I looked down at my hands, "I was around your age when you and Abigail were born and I tried so, so hard to keep our family together. To stop your mother from leaving. But, it wasn't enough. She told me that everything was a mistake and that she didn't want to be a mother. She said that she felt tied down to our life and that she wanted freedom... whatever that means."

I sniffled and wiped the tears away with the back of my hand. I looked up and noticed that Demetrius had adjusted his bed to allow him to sit upright in his bed. He was listening intently. I cleared my throat and continued, "anyways, she grabbed a suitcase and headed out the door. I stood in the driveway with Abby in my arms and you holding on to my hand and looking up at me so innocently... so vulnerable.

Not to mention it was a HUGE taboo for a single father to be raising a child on his own, much less two babies at that. It was the man's responsibility to work and provide income for the family. Not to mention I didn't have ANYONE to help me raise the two of you and it was in the early 1950s when you guys were born and so there was a lot of stigma going around. There weren't a lot of resources out there to help single Dad's. I struggled to find work that was flexible enough to allow me the time off to take care of you.

I'm not trying to make excuses but, I was stressed out, Junior. So in my moment of weakness I turned to gambling and tried to use it as a side hustle to bring in extra money so that I'd have enough money to feed you and your sister." I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, "but then I became addicted to gambling. And that addiction led to another. I had already been addicted to drinking but the gambling just made it that much worse.

At this point I wanted to stop but I didn't know how. Little did I know at that time that drinking so much was only increasing my stress levels instead of suppressing it. By that point, we were about to lose our home and I couldn't bare the thought of you and Abby living on the streets so I did the most difficult thing I ever had to do, which was to give you up for adoption." Demetrius looks over and speaks for the first time that I've been there, "so, if it was so hard for you to give us up, why did you opt for a closed adoption? Why did you make it where we could never find you if we needed you?"

I let out a sigh, "honestly I was ashamed and I had thought that maybe your lives would be better without me in it. I was just a drunken loser and I had nothing more that I could give because I had lost it all. I lived on the streets and took refuge in the local casinos to keep warm. I was begging for food and well, basically I wasted away until I just wanted everything to end. I had drowned myself in a fountain in the park late one night and then I woke up here in Hell."

Demetrius sighs and sits up to adjust himself but then winces in pain. I stand to my feet and rush over to him, "hey, take it easy, kid. You were just stabbed twelve times with an angelic blade and left for dead in a ditch somewhere. He shrugs his shoulders and finds another way to adjust himself without being in pain, "eh... it's nothing new." I offered him a cup of water and he accepts it.

"what's that supposed to mean," I asked concerned. He rolls his eyes in annoyance, "nothing, I'm just saying that I've been in worse scraps than this since being down here. Why's it matter to you anyways? I've survived without your help for twenty-eight years I think I can handle myself just fine." I winced feeling wounded by that remark, "oh and you call getting yourself stabbed twelve times and landing in the ER taking care of yourself?"

He growled in response, "hey you're the very last person that should be judging me right now." I let out a sigh and walk over to grab a chair and pulled it over to the side of his bed, "yeah,... I know, you're right. I'm sorry. Look I know that you don't believe me right now but I do care about you." He takes a sip of his water and quickly changes the subject, "so how'd I end up here?"

"Actually Jessie went out to look for you after you stormed out of the hotel earlier. She was planning to just talk to you but she found you in the ditch instead. Poor girl's gonna be scarred for life after what she's seen." He raises an eyebrow and smiles slyly, "oh, really?" I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair, "hey, what's that grin about?"

He blushes and scratches the back of his head before looking away from me,"oh, uh nothing." I rolled my eyes and grinned, "Oh come on, man! I know that face and that's not an, 'uh, nothing' face." He murmured looking embarrassed, "I uh,... I just think she's kinda cute that's all." My face turns serious, "look son, it's cool that you have a little crush on her but just... be nice.

If you're going to pursue her, be a gentleman about it. She's not a play thing. She's a very sweet girl and I'd hate to see her get hurt again." He raises his eyebrow, "wait- what do you mean by, 'again'." I let out a sigh, "she's sensitive and gentle.

She got REALLY upset when she saw you covered in blood. She thought you were going to die. We— we all did. But she took it very hard. She cried for hours until she finally fell asleep."

Demetrius flattened his ears and stared down into his lap. "That bad, huh?" I nodded my head to him in reply. "Who did this to you anyways?" He shakes his head, "it's a little bit hazy but I remember seeing a tv demon there when the attack happened."